1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to chaps that are worn over trousers. The chaps of the invention are of the type that provide protection to the wearer who may be using a chain saw. It sometimes occurs that the chain saw will be misused or otherwise become out of control and cut the leg of the user. To minimize injuries in such cases, protective garments such as chaps are worn by the sawer.
The present invention pertains to a unique design and construction of chaps to give greater protection to the wearer from injuries due to the misuse of the chain saw.
2. Description of the prior art
Chaps and other protective clothing have been used in the past to cover the legs of the user of a chain saw. Representative of prior art chaps are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,956 to Bartels, U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,342 to Eng et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,065 to Bouchard. These patents are directed to various designs of garments or padding for garments that are designed to protect the user of a chain saw.
Chainsaw operators working in forests and farms and the week-end home logger are regularly involved in the removal of branches from trees which is a particularly dangerous operation in that the chain saw can become out of control and injure the user. Saws are often operated in short downward movement strokes to cut branches and the user will apply a downward force against the branch to enhance the sawing operation. When the saw cuts through the branch it has nothing to stop its downward movement and can well hit the user in the upper or lower leg area causing serious injury. Accordingly, the prior art garments such as leggings and chaps have been provided with pads in which the material in the padding will jam and stop the saw operation if the saw comes in contact with the padding. The chaps of the prior art fail to provide certain leg protection that the present invention is designed to protect.